Thread: Leaving out today

Originally Posted by ZipZop

Aloha!

Have fun OP. Never been to Sturgis, but have been to Daytona many times. But let me tell you about rain on a bike;

I rode from Florida to Michigan the year a Hurricane came ashore but scaled back significantly in power leaving only torrential downpours and low temperatures behind it. I tried to outrun it going north. Big mistake. Not horrible wind, but big wind, perhaps 40-50 mph. Still, it poured cats and dogs and alligators when the rain caught me at the Florida/Georgia border. I distinctly remember being in southern Georgia riding about 20 miles north of the Florida border on I-75 and it was pouring so hard I had my 4-way flashers on going about 20 mph with my eyes on the white line on the side of the highway so I could make out where the road was. A truck was actually following ME on the bike with his flashers on.

As luck would have it, about 10 miles in that horrid stuff I pulled off on a rural exit that through sheer luck had a Super 8 Motel and a restaurant and gas station. Nothing else. It was like an oasis in the desert. I had to spend two nights there until the rain and wind passed. The owner took pity on me and let me pull my bike into his storage shed for the duration.

My riding gear was water "resistant" but not water "Proof" and it never dried out fully and I rode north in significantly lower temps after the hurricane passed in damp riding gear. By the time I hit Kentucky it was 55 degrees and by Michigan it was about 45. I froze my butt off. I've never been so cold on a bike.

So after that fiasco, rain doesn't bother me much, unless I am foolish enough to try to outrun another hurricane.

-Zip

1995 Triumph Trophy 1200 (AKA - Hurricane Bike)

Attachment 270392

My first trip to Daytona was in 08 and on the way back it also started to rain about the Florida and Georgea line. It rained all the way back to west Tn. Temp droped and my rain gear was of the walmart type so I really know what you mean. 3 years ago on the way back i called home a little after dark and found out my wifes brother was in a bad way. We ran the the rest of the way home and when we went over Mt. Eagle it was in the high 30's and I almost froze my yenng yanng off. It can get a bit tough out there.

ya, back in 2006 I left the east Texas panhandle going to St. Louis Mo. going across Oklahoma it was 86 degrees. I bedded down in Joplin Mo. that night, woke up the next morning and by the time I got to Rolla Mo. I rolled the rest of the way to St. Louis in a snow storm, in places I was the only track on the Interstate 44. and I got lots of them from 45 years riding a motorcycle more than I do my truck, me and Roy ran into a pretty good rain storm up in Idaho last year in July that dropped the temp way down and dumped a bunch of water on us just before we got to Glens. maybe it figured we needed a bath before showing up. Tc

oh forgot another good one not to far back, I was riding up to Howard Clarks meetup in Iowa last year in May, at Cape G. in Mo. I ran into a storm that blew over my bike on the highway and the rain was so hard it shut the highway down for an hour. that might have been the worst rain I ever seen in a short amount of time, but blowing my bike over was not fun either Tc

My biggest issue with the Triumph is that it's a "Sport Tour" bike, so it is more agressive a riding position than a standard and way more agressive than a cruiser. When I first started LONG distance touring with it (over 500 miles) I was in amazing shape. I was a seasoned Triathlete and a weight lifter. Yet after 3 or 4 hours on the bike my back was killing me. I was popping Advil like M&Ms. The issue was I was tense. 70 MPH for hours on end on the highway in that lean forward position and you tend to tense up. And you can't sit back and relax.

I have a classic 1982 Honda GL-500 Interstate and that is SO much more comfy on long rides it's unreal. But with only a 500 twisted V engine, it's not the best bike on the interstate. Sure, it can handle the speed, but you are buzzing along at 7,200 RPM at 70 MPH. The redline is 9,500 so you are well below red but that high rev....that gets to you after a while, so I take back roads at 55 mph these days on that bike. More enjoyable anyway. It also has highway pegs, so it's a much more comfortable ride for most riders.

I rode a 1988 Suzuki 700 V-Twin from Texas to Florida one year, so I'm no stranger to lower CC bikes on the Highway. If they are geared correctly, no problem. The Honda is more ranged for the 55 mph sweet spot as that was the speed limit when that bike wa built.

-Zip